An Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) is a handheld mobile computing device carried by aircraft flight crews that reference materials such as aircraft operating manuals, flight-crew operating manuals, navigational charts, weather forecasts, flight schedules, and the like. Usually, the Electronic Flight Bag is a resource intended primarily for cockpit use by the flight crew's pilot and co-pilot. Contents on the electronic flight bag may be updated while on-board an aircraft by connecting the electronic flight bag to an on-board aircraft network which includes an on-board EFB data server. The most secure way of connecting EFB to the on-board aircraft network is by using a cable, because the adversary would have to gain physical access to the connector, which is situated in cockpit, hence under control of pilots. Further, a cable provides a hardwired point-to-point connection that ensures only one EFB device can be connected to the on-board aircraft network at any one time. However, cables can fail, tangle, and can be a source of clutter on the flight deck. Wireless links, such as those provided by dedicated Wi-Fi (i.e., IEEE 802.11) access points are one means to avoid the need for hardwire cable connections. Such wireless connections, however, introduce security issues because their signals are not restricted to the cockpit, and logon credentials can be hacked or stolen by an attacker eavesdropping on the access point enabling the attacker to connect to the dedicated Wi-Fi network.
For the reasons stated above and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification, there is a need in the art for alternate systems and methods for providing automated secure distribution of logon credentials for establishing wireless connectivity of Electronic Flight Bags.